Post #120,357
10/7/03 6:46:12 PM
|
OpEd: How to get MSFT back to $100/share.
First a disclaimer I don't claim to be an expert in Java, JSP, tomcat, J2EE, etc. However, for the past couple of months I have received intensive training in Java and am beginning training w/JSP. Java technology looks to me like somebody's school project that some other people took entirely too seriously. It may be "pure", but it is not ready for the American business empire. My main objection to the technology (and I'm not talking my own limited, newbie experience here, we have "seasoned, certified people" working on a project here that is taking entirely too long) is that it just flat takes too long to develop anything. My cursory review of the literature is that it takes roughly 7 lines of code to do anything w/J2EE as is done with 1 line of .Net code.
Having been in this God-forsaken industry for more than a decade I have observed that most people want an application finished about 2 weeks before they are actually able to tell you in any level of detail what they want the application to do. In such an environment, .Net is clearly "superior" technology. Is it more stable? No. Is it more secure? No. Is is truer to the pedagogical definition of "object technology"? No. But it does allow developers to "get their damned jobs done" a hell of a lot quicker than Java technologies ever will. This is the reason COM beat CORBA and could be the reason .Net beats J2EE.
So, if I'm right, why isn't .Net taking off? Because, rightly, everyone is scared shitless of IIS and .Net requires IIS. How to fix? Here's how:
Microsoft announces that it is going to dedicate resources to work with the Apache project to get .Net applications to work well with Linux/Apache servers. They'll help them build a CLR that runs on Linux. Yeah, I know, that's a very bitter pill for MSFT to swallow. But what is MSFT's alternative? Be satisifed with less than 25% market share on the Internet? Clearly, no one will ever seriously "trust" IIS. MSFT has bet the ranch on .Net but are unable to bring to market a trusted platform to run .Net applications on.
By announcing that they are going to assist in porting .Net applications to Apache/Linux they kill two birds with one stone: they get GREAT PR for once in the past 5 years *AND* they can finally drive a death-nail in the coffin of the failing, but persistent, Java technology. Moreover, they'll get the legions of formerly dedicated MSFT developers back in force. And that is what really built the company.
MSFT got to be where it is by providing the easiest to use tools that generated working (although admittedly flawed) applications. It's the tools, stupid, more than anything else. I'd wager that if .Net applications could run on anything else but IIS, .Net application development would already be HUGE and Java development would be about as easy to find as Delphi development.
Murican biznessmen simply do not have the patience to wait the additional time it takes to do anything w/Java over the time it takes to do the same thing with .Net. .Net is geared towards getting the job done quickly. Does it take shortcuts? Certainly. But that never hindered MSFT tools in the past and it will not now. The only thing hindering wide adoption of .Net technologies is its absolute reliance on IIS. Take that away and it will be a .Net century, and MSFT will shoot back up to where it was.
Just a few thoughts.
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #120,371
10/7/03 9:03:01 PM
|
"Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts".
Alex
"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." -- last words of Pancho Villa (1877-1923)
|
Post #120,378
10/7/03 9:20:36 PM
|
"Someone forgot to tell the Trojans..."
"...beware of Gifts bearing Greeks."
|
Post #120,389
10/7/03 10:06:34 PM
|
So don't use it.
J2EE is overkill for 99% of the projects out there. JBuilder + JSP + something like Struts is more akin to .NET. If you need multiple servers, use shared sessions or JMS to parcel things out. Something like Orion Server or OC4J even has a (more flexible) page fragment caching than .NET as well.
I gave up on J2EE long ago. What a clusterfsck. EJBs are sorry, sorry little pathetic things.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
|
Post #120,492
10/8/03 2:13:18 PM
|
Re: So don't use it.
Just to set the record straight, the J2EE specification *includes* EJB's, but does not dictate them (of course, that means a J2EE-compliant application server MUST provide them...). Unfortunately, all too often, J2EE gets blamed for the heaviness of EJB's. This is unfortunate, as EJB's are there for a reason (and a good one), but typically aren't necessary (even in many enterprise situations).
JSP's/servlets, JMS, JDBC, JavaMail, etc. are all part of the J2EE spec. And though JDO isn't, it can certainly handle most of the persistence requirements a project may have.
Dan
|
Post #120,493
10/8/03 2:15:02 PM
|
Re: OpEd: How to get MSFT back to $100/share.
I'd like to understand which particular features you're referring to that take seven lines of Java code that can be done with one line of .NET (I'm assuming C#, but maybe you mean VB.NET). That's not to say that .NET doesn't have a lot of advantages (such as their tool support), but I don't think it's that easy to write off Java/J2EE.
For example, have you looked at WebSphere, WebLogic, etc. for J2EE development? Have you tried maintaining a non-trivial web application in .NET and one based upon Struts (with Tiles)? (I haven't, but I can make a guess.) Don't confuse the tool with the underlying technology (that's exactly what Microsoft wants you to do, and it's a poor comparison in that regard).
Dan
|
Post #120,494
10/8/03 2:31:54 PM
|
EJBs would take that much extra code.
They're abyssmal. As I said, most people shouldn't/don't need to use them. Most people use them anyway, though, so they can say "we're doing J2EE" (your object above noted; common parlance, as you pointed out, does link the two rather tightly).
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
|
Post #121,064
10/13/03 12:55:44 PM
|
What was old is new again!
Java technology looks to me like somebody's school project that some other people took entirely too seriously. It may be "pure", but it is not ready for the American business empire. Except for the "business empire" remark, the exact same thing was said about PASCAL some 23 years ago. How much PASCAL do you see today? Me?... not much! (Relax, CRC -- your Delphi bears as much resemblance to Jensen/Wirth PASCAL as Visual BASIC resembles Dartmouth BASIC....)jb4
Boy I'd like to see those words on a PR banner behind [Treasury Secretary John] Snow at the podium:
Jobs and Growth: Just Wait.
John J. Andrew, unemployed programmer; see jobforjohn.com
|
Post #121,079
10/13/03 3:09:09 PM
|
So, do you agree?
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #121,085
10/13/03 4:15:28 PM
|
Oh, absolutely!
Sorry that wasn't clear.
Maybe if people would teach people how to engineer software, as opposed to trying to keep people from making "mistakes' by giving them crippleware to write with, perhaps then we'd have better quality software.
But what do I know...?
jb4
Boy I'd like to see those words on a PR banner behind [Treasury Secretary John] Snow at the podium:
Jobs and Growth: Just Wait.
John J. Andrew, unemployed programmer; see jobforjohn.com
|
Post #121,097
10/13/03 5:55:31 PM
|
Re: What do you know?
As much as (read: More, most likely) than me ;-)
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #121,162
10/14/03 10:32:48 AM
|
I know; must be why the OP language is "Delphi" from v 7 :-)
|
